Senior United States District Judge William H. Stafford, Jr., the first merit-selected federal judge in Florida and the longest-serving judge in the history of his court, died in Pensacola on Monday, July 14, 2025, at age 94.

Born at home in the village of Masury, OH, on May 11, 1931, Bill was the youngest of five children of William Henry and Frieda Nau Stafford. After graduating from Sharon High in 1949, he received a Pennsylvania senatorial scholarship to attend Temple University in Philadelphia, where he earned his business and law degrees in 1953 and 1956.

He was active in campus life, serving as president of his undergraduate social fraternity and as magister of his law school fraternity. As an undergraduate, he sang in Temple's Glee Club, worked in the campus bookstore, and served as vice-president of the Council of Presidents. While in law school, he was a resident housemaster at Girard College, a school for orphaned boys. He received the Monroe Award in 1953 and the Barrack Temple Law Alumni Achievement Award in 2005.

Upon graduating from Temple, he served three years of active duty in the Navy, where he was detailed as a deck and legal officer aboard the aircraft carriers USS HANCOCK and USS BOXER. While stationed in California, he met Nancy Helman, a fellow Pennsylvanian and Penn State graduate. They married the following July (1959) at her home church in Marion, PA.

After his release from the Navy, the newlyweds settled in Pensacola, where Nancy taught school and Bill worked in an insurance claims department. After passing The Florida Bar examination in 1961, he practiced for three years with the Robinson and Roark firm, opened his own office in 1964, and served as State Attorney from 1967 to 1969. In August 1969, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, serving until 1975. During his tenure, the Naval Live Oaks Reservation in Gulf Breeze, FL, was preserved through its designation as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in January 1971 - an achievement he regarded with deep pride for the rest of his life.

In May 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed him United States District Judge for the Northern District of Florida, and he took the oath of office on May 30. During his judicial tenure, Bill served as Chief Judge of the Northern District of Florida from 1981 to 1993. By appointment of Chief Justice Burger, he served successive terms on two committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Judges Association and as President of the District Judges Association of the Eleventh Circuit. Upon taking senior status in 1996, Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed him to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court for a seven-year term, which included the events of 9/11/2001.

Shortly after his appointment to the bench in 1975, Bill was assigned to handle court in the Panama Canal Zone while the Panama Canal Treaty was debated in the U.S. Senate. Throughout his judicial career, he willingly accepted assignments in other trial courts across the country as needed, and in senior status, he regularly sat with U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Pasadena, Atlanta, and Miami.

Bill also taught classes at Florida State University College of Law and regularly participated in its moot court and other activities. He was a charter member of the Board of Visitors of Temple's School of Law and the first Board of Visitors of FSU's College of Law. The Florida Bar also engaged a portion of his off-bench time, with his regular service on several statewide committees and judicial roundtables. Judge Stafford was the founding president of The American Inns of Court in Tallahassee. In recognition of this service, the inn was renamed "The William H. Stafford American Inn of Court" in 2005.

A faithful churchman, Bill was active in his Episcopal parishes. He served as senior warden at Christ Church Pensacola and as a vestryman at St. John's Tallahassee, in addition to serving as a lector, lay eucharistic minister, and choir member. He also served as a delegate to diocesan conventions, participated on the Standing Committees of both dioceses, and was involved with the Brotherhood of St. Andrew.

A Freemason for most of his adult life, Bill was a member of Escambia Lodge and the Pensacola Scottish Rite bodies. In October 1987, in Washington, DC, he received the Grand Cross of Honour, Scottish Rite Masonry's highest honor.

Bill was a Rotarian since 1973 and served as President of his Tallahassee club in 1988-89. He later received the Frederick Clifton Moor Award. He was a Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the "Rotary Rooters" of his Pensacola club.

In Tallahassee, Bill served as President of the YMCA and as a board member of the Friends of the Leroy Collins Library. In Pensacola, he served on the Advisory Board of Sacred Heart Hospital and on the Pensacola Symphony Board of Directors.

Bill focused his out-of-court life on maintaining regular contact with family and friends, and on numerous religious, fraternal, and civic activities. He enjoyed exercise, walking, and the outdoors, but described himself as a hunter without a gun, a fisherman with no patience, and a lousy golfer. Meetings of the Flat Earth Society at McGuire's Irish Pub were filled with good humor, good food, and drink with a diverse group of good men. He loved all spectator sports and, in quieter moments, enjoyed reading history and geography. He and Nancy traveled extensively and never had a bad trip.

He is preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Virginia Stafford Lake, Lois Stafford Saul, and Evelyn Stafford Bell; his brother, John P. Stafford; and his beloved wife of 64 years, Nancy Helman Stafford.

He is survived by his children, Bill III (Andrea), Don (Jane), and David (Kim); grandchildren, David Jr., Charlie, Kate, Sarah Grace, William IV, and Nick. He also leaves behind beloved nieces, nephews, and extended family members throughout the country, as well as many friends he made along the way.

A Memorial Service will be held 1:00pm Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at Christ Episcopal Church, 18 W. Wright St., Pensacola, FL, with Dr. Michael Hoffman officiating. A reception will follow in the church parish hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, c/o Christ Church Parish, P.O. Box 12683, Pensacola FL 32591-2683.